Bingo Hall Tax Case Ends In Mistrial

October 17, 1986|By JEAN DUBAIL, Staff Writer

The surprise introduction of a man`s will led to a mistrial Thursday in a federal tax evasion case against his son, who is accused of failing to report almost $400,000 in income earned by skimming bingo hall profits.

James Williams, 46, of Boca Raton, had been on trial in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach on charges of tax evasion and signing a false tax return.

Special U.S. Attorney Randall Gold had argued that Williams, who once ran four Broward County bingo halls, hid much of his income by shuffling the profits among several bank accounts under his control. Williams evaded almost $200,000 in taxes for the years 1979, 1980 and 1981, Gold said.

Late Wednesday, however, defense attorneys produced a will executed by Williams` father, who said he gave his son about $175,000 during his lifetime and that the money need not be repaid.

The will would appear to support the defense contention that much of Williams` income was in the form of gifts and loans and therefore not subject to tax.

Gold complained Thursday morning to U.S. District Judge James C. Paine that the surprise introduction of the will violated procedural rules concerning mutual disclosure of evidence. He asked the judge to exclude the will, delay the trial long enough for prosecutors to study it, or declare a mistrial.

Paine chose the third option.

Afterward, Gold said the defense was ``clearly guilty of a discovery violation.``

``They breached their obligation,`` he said. ``It would have meant the government was ambushed.``

Gold did not question the will`s authenticity, but does question whether the gifts were actually made.

``That will was not prepared by the father until he knew his son was under investigation by the IRS,`` Gold said.

Defense attorney Michael Rosen could not be reached for comment.

Bingo games at the four halls were ostensibly run by charities, Gold had told jurors, but Williams` employees actually were in control. Though the halls were bringing in millions of dollars a year, he said, the charities made only $150 a night.

Most of the cash was given to corporations Williams controlled, Gold said. These corporations paid Williams` bills and bought property for him, he said.

Rosen had called the government`s estimates of Williams` actual earnings ``a guess.`` He said Gold`s case amounted to a ``leap of faith,`` that investigators had never bothered to check other possible sources of income.